HE’S spent several years in the passenger seat - but now a Burbage speed demon is looking forward to taking on his home-town rally behind the wheel.

Craig Wilkinson, of Robinson Way, is set to take part in the Rally of the Midlands this weekend in his Peugeot 205 1.9GTi, with the Hinckley town centre stage the main attraction on Friday night.

The eighth staging of the Rally of the Midlands will see high-performance vehicles taking on almost 90 competitive miles at Mallory Park, MIRA, the Merevale estate, the Bramcote military base and Hinckley town centre this Friday and Saturday.

Craig and his co-driver Jane Robbins only started rallying together at the start of this season, but have already scored some impressive results in their class in the Heart of England Championship. Their machine boasts 165bhp and a 0-60mph speed of “quick!” according to Craig who hasn’t yet got round to measuring it accurately.

This weekend is set to be one of the highlights of their season.

Craig said: “I’m looking forward to it a lot. I’ve done the event twice before as co-driver but it’s the first time as a driver. So I know some of the stages reasonably well and I know the MIRA stage very well.

“I’m mindful because the town centre stage is one of those where you can lose the rally but certainly not one where you can win it. There are big kerbs and walls to negotiate, but my dad said because I’m an autotest champion it should be a piece of cake.

“You can’t afford to be a hero, but I’m sure when we get to it everyone will!”

For Solihull-based Jane, the role as co-driver all came about from a chance conversation with Craig at work.

“We were just chatting about it at work. Six months later Craig’s told me he’s buying a rally car and asking me do I want to co-drive!” said Jane. More information for rally spectators can be found at www.rallyofthemidlands.co.uk

Timetable: Friday

The start of the event sees the cars leaving from the pedestrian area near the fountain close to the Council House in the centre of Nuneaton at 6pm.

SS1 and SS2 – Bramcote – 6.15pm. This stage is run twice. Bramcote can be found by taking the B4114 towards Wolvey Heath, turning right into Bazzard Road, passing the main barracks entrance and looking out for the car park signs.

SS3 and SS6 - Argents Mead – 7pm and 8.30pm

SS4 and SS5 – Mallory Park - 7.15pm

Timetable: Saturday

SS7 and SS8 – Merevale - 8.15am. Merevale can only be accessed from the road between Atherstone (A5) and Bentley Common at the lodge. This stage is run twice.

SS10 and SS11 – Bramcote - 10am. Spectators can view over half of the stage at the barracks. This stage is run twice.

SS12 and SS13– Mallory - 11.30am

SS15 and SS16 – Merevale - 1pm

SS17 and SS18 – Mallory - 3pm

The finish of day two sees the cars returning to the pedestrian area in Hinckley town centre where they will be greeted by the mayor. The first car is expected in Hinckley just after 3.30pm.